It's romantic and Neo and Murrue themed mainly because my fangirl devotion to the MXM pairing has reached the level known as 'obsessive'. Please read and review, okay:
Disclaimer: Spare monies for n00b?
'If you're going to stay on this ship as a crewmember, then you'll need one of our uniforms. Oh, and a haircut'
That last addition had baffled Neo Lorrnoke. Sure, he understood why he'd need a new uniform, but why a haircut?
He had asked Captain Ramius if he couldn't just keep his hair the way it was. After all, her hair was just as long
as his, and this ship wasn't really part of the Orb military.
She had just sighed and mentioned some regulation about male crewmembers having to have their hair a certain length
or something like that. It didn't make much sense to Neo, but then again, he hadn't really been paying much attention
to her words. After she had finished speaking, she smiled a little (which caused him to forget everything he'd actually
heard) and told him:
'You never know, shorter hair might suit you'
Her small smile had charmed Neo, and he decided there and then that to make it one of his missions as part of this
crew to cause his new Captain to smile properly. He was sure it would make her ten times more beautiful than she
already was. He smiled back at her as he hit on an idea.
'Okay then, I'll get my hair cut. But on one condition'
Murrue frowned up at him. 'What's that'
His grin widened. 'That you cut it for me'.
Murrue went pink and looked away. Why was he asking her this? It's not like she knew how to do that, or
that she and the Colonel were even close enough for him to suggest something like that.
'I-I don't know how...it would be better if Lacus-san was to do it. After all, she's had experience at that kind of thing
living with the orphans. I'll ask her when she gets ba..huh'
She was cut off as Neo leaned down and stared right into her eyes, a heart-stoppingly familiar boyish
grin on his face.
'Uh-uh, it doesn't work like that, Captain. If I have to get a haircut against my will, then I should at least
get to decide on the conditions. Besides, how do you know you can't do it unless you try'
He noticed that she was blushing slightly, which only encouraged him more. Time for a different approach.
'Please?' he wheedled, ducking down to look into her face.
Murrue averted her face again, blushing deeper, all the while cursing her own body's reaction to him.
No matter how often she told herself that this man wasn't her Mwu, he looked and now acted so much like him
that her own body betrayed her mind's command.
'O-okay', she managed to stutter, still not able to look at him. 'But not where anyone can see,
it would be too embarrassing. Oh, and not anywhere too...too private, either'
she finished, wishing the ground could open up and swallow her. Why had she just said that? And why the
hell was she acting like a schoolgirl with a crush?
Neo raised an eyebrow, smiling at how nervous she was. It was rather cute.
'How private is too private? I won't try anything, you know'
Murrue collected herself and glared up at him. 'That's not what I meant, and you know it. We'll go to my office, if
you're so determined that I should cut your hair for you'
She stalked off, not waiting for him. Neo followed her, inwardly celebrating his victory.
In her captain's office, she sat him down in the chair opposite her desk, and left him there while she rooted
in the drawer for a pair of scissors. Finding a rather nasty looking pair, she walked around the desk and stood behind him.
'Now, sit still and don't fidget, or I might end up cutting an ear off'
Neo nodded meekly, and looked around the office while Murrue snipped away at his hair. There were
precious few personal items in this room, it was all very formal. That was the way it should be on
a battleship, but he was surprised that she would be like that, as she was very different from any other captain
he had ever met. If he had said half of the things to an EA female captain that he'd said to Captain Ramius,
he'd have got his ass kicked or been reprimanded, colonel though he was. But oddly enough, this captain
just tolerated his flirting, as if she was used to it...
'Finished' she called to him, snapping him out of his reverie. What with his thoughts (and the feel of her
gentle fingers on the back of his neck) he had almost fallen asleep.
'Already?' he replied, whining slightly. 'I was enjoying that'
'Well, nearly. I still have to cut your fringe. Close your eyes'
Neo complied, and she managed to trim the unruly golden curls without making it look too crooked,
which she was rather proud of. When Murrue was satisfied with her work, she remembered a trick she had seen
real hairdressers use. Leaning forward, she took the ends of his hair on both sides and measured them
between her fingers to see if each side was equal, forgetting how close she was to him.
Still with his eyes closed, Neo was suddenly conscious of a presence very close to him, and the scent
of flowers. Opening his eyes, he noticed that the Captain's face was only inches away from his own.
She was concentrating so hard on what she was doing, that she didn't see that he was staring at her.
His gaze moved down, and focused on her lips. They were parted slightly, as she was chewing on
her bottom lip while she measured his hair. She was so close, he couldn't resist.
As if it was natural, he gently grasped her chin in one hand, and brought her lips to his.
Murrue's eyes shot wide open in surprise and she dropped her scissors. What in the...?
What was he doing?
Neo closed his eyes and twined the fingers of his other hand in her auburn hair as he continued to
kiss her.
Once her initial shock had died down, Murrue couldn't help but be drawn into his kiss. It felt so
familiar, his lips were so warm...She closed her eyes, about to return his kiss...then she
remembered. He wasn't Mwu, not yet, no matter how much he acted like him, and no matter how
badly she wanted to kiss him back.
She pulled away from him, almost falling over her desk, and blushed deep crimson. What on Earth had she
almost done?
Neo had opened his eyes in surprise when he felt her pull away. He knew he shouldn't have done it, but he
hadn't been able to help himself. But he hadn't expected her to be quite so shocked. She was now leaning
against her desk, breathing hard, her cheeks scarlet. He wasn't sure whether she was angry or just flustered.
He had better take this carefully...
'I'm sorry, Captain, I didn't mean'
She couldn't look at him, or answer him. She wasn't angry at him (well, maybe a little) so much as
she was angry for not being able to control herself. And despite this, she knew that if she looked at
him, she would just blush again. He wasn't Mwu, so why was she acting like this?
Neo stood up and walked over to her slowly. He knew that if he said the wrong thing, she might run away,
or worse, never speak to him again. But what should he say? He had never been good in situations
like this, (not that he'd ever been in many) and he was a little scared.
After running through various options, he decided on something. Walking over to the Captain, he gently
placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.
'Thank you'
She looked up at him questioningly, her cheeks still pink.
'For the haircut, I mean' he elaborated. 'I actually feel much lighter now'
She wanted to glare at him again, but instead, she couldn't help smiling a little. Even if he wasn't Mwu, he
certainly had Mwu's ability to defuse awkward situations.
'You're welcome.' she finally answered.
'Do I look all right?' he asked, pulling at the ends of his now collar-length hair.
Murrue looked him over. Shorter hair, the collar of his uniform unzipped, and his jacket sleeves rolled up.
'Yes,' she said, 'You look fine'. Then she smiled at him properly for the first time.
Neo was delighted. Her smile did make her more beautiful, just as he had imagined. It lit up
her face like sunshine. He vowed to make her smile like that more often.
'Come on,' he said, gesturing to the door. 'Let's go.'
:Well, there ya have it, my first fic. Reviews and comments welcome, but if you must flame me, please keep it to a light toasting instead of a chargrilling. I have a lot more ideas for fics, but only you can decide whether I'll go ahead with them or not, okay:
